Last Stitch Effort
by NintendoGal55
Summary: Prequel to "Filling In". Sally returns Frasier's dropped wallet to him, and gets reacquainted with him and Martin. She then volunteers to look after Eddie while the Cranes head out of town for the weekend.


**So, I wrote "Filling In" as some kind of a hilarious tie-in. XD A completely random, but hopefully fun crossover between **_**The Nightmare Before Christmas**_** and **_**Frasier**_**. Unlikely and silly, I know, but I'm just having fun. :)**

**As much as they will have satirical and parody overtones, I am still sticking to my guns to keep everyone in character and capture their spirits and interaction. So while I don't want these to be taken seriously, since they are meant for shits and giggles, I do still hope to tell a good story while still entertaining you with the hilarity of it.**

**This story will explain how Sally met the Cranes and got to taking care of Eddie. :) Spoilers for my collaboration fanfiction with Azure129, entitled "Meant To Be", the next coming chapter will be spoiled a bit, to be exact. ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**Frasier and co belong to Paramount Studios, David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee.**

**Sally belongs to Tim Burton.**

* * *

><p>~<strong>Lost and...still not Found<strong>~

"It has got to be here somewhere! Where the hell did I leave it?" Frasier frantically searched another one of his coats, specifically the pockets, as he tried to find his missing wallet. "Damn! It's not in this one either!"

"Should have kept a better eye on your wallet, Fras. Besides, just cancel your credit cards and explain to the bank that your wallet was stolen." Martin said with nonchalance as he sat down in his chair with the newspaper in hand.

"Oh, what a fine and dandy idea!" Frasier said sarcastically. "In case you forgot, Dad, we're leaving tomorrow for Portland and I need my wallet! If I don't find it now, we'll never make it!"

"Niles is going too you know, he can handle the expenses." Martin reasoned, reading the paper.

"Oh, just stop with your excuses and help me find it already!" Now Frasier was looking under the couch cushions. "Maybe I'd better call Daphne and see if she's seen it..."

"Leave her alone, Fras! She wants time alone with Niles anyway, we'll see her tomorrow when we pick her up for the trip." Martin told him.

"It's just one phone call!" Frasier was heading for the phone when there was a soft, almost inaudible knocking at the door. He stared at it, and then at his father. "Are you expecting anyone?"

"Nope. You?" Martin looked up from his paper.

"I don't think so..." Frasier frowned lightly, and went over to the door, peering through the peephole. All he could see was something big and white, with a little black dot. Confused, he opened the door, peered around the crack, and then opened it wider. "You again, that woman we met at the bowling alley the other day, Sally!"

There was no mistaking, it was her. With the strange, big eyes, the pale blue skin, her auburn hair, and the very crudely stitched black and white pinstriped scarf. A new addition to her attire from the first time they saw her was a long black coat. This was the strange, but very sweet and kind woman they had met at the bowling alley just two days ago. The one who was having a bridal shower party in a Halloween theme...and with bowling. Yep, very strange, but none the less very kind.

"H-Hello, Dr. Crane..." Sally said with a nervous, but sincere smile. "Am I...is this a bad time? I hope I'm not bothering you..."

"No no, not at all. Please, come in." Frasier stepped aside and let her in. He shut the door, and went over to help remove her coat. "Here, I'll take your coat for you."

"Oh, thank you, Dr. Crane..." Sally smiled as she wiggled out of her coat. She wore the same patchwork dress "costume" only this time with a white long-sleeved undershirt and white long johns.

"Hey, Sal!" Martin grinned at her. "Nice to see you again! What brings you here?"

"Well, I...came here to return your wallet, Dr. Crane." Sally held a dark leather wallet to Frasier. "I found it back at the bowling alley, and wanted to return it to you. I'm sorry it took me so long to come here to do so, but I had to plan everything accordingly..."

"Oh, sweet mercy!" Frasier took his wallet, smiling with so much relief. "You found my wallet and returned it!" He checked inside, to see that all the money he had in there was still in it. "And not a cent is missing!" He pulled her into a hug, unable to help it. "Thank you!"

"Oh!" Sally blinked, feeling so...odd! She'd never been hugged by another man before! But she smiled and returned it to be polite. "You're very welcome, Dr. Crane... It was my pleasure to bring it back."

"You're doin' me a favour, too!" Martin remarked, laughing.

Frasier looked toward his father with an annoyed stare and rolled his eyes. "Oh, very funny, Dad." He said dryly. He turned back to Sally, guiding her to the couch. "Have a seat, please! Can I get you a drink?"

"Oh, um...sure..." Sally sat down on the edge of the cushion, clasping her hands in her lap as she sat up straight and proper. "Would tea be too much trouble?"

"Tea! Well why not? Someone who found my wallet deserves a request!" Frasier nodded and headed to the kitchen to make some.

Eddie scampered into the room, and hopped onto the couch, staring at Sally. She looked at him with surprise, and smiled.

"Hello there, Eddie." She petted him.

Martin looked at his newspaper before turning to the rag doll. "So Sally, what brings ya to Seattle? Aside from the obvious, I guess."

"Oh, you know...I suppose I wanted to see a bit more of the city, since we didn't see much the first time." Sally indicated to her wet head. "And it's raining...it doesn't rain so much where I come from." Her eyes were drawn to the view out the window, which made her stare with wide eyes. Wider than usual, more or less. "Oh my! That's...such a lovely view! Wow!"

"Lucky you." Martin remarked, whistling nonchalantly. He followed her gaze over his shoulder and over The Armchair and chuckled. "It's a pretty sweet view all right, you'd have to be a moron not to appreciate it!"

Sally giggled. "Well, I suppose one can't argue with that. Um...how have you been, Mr. Crane? Is everything all right with you?"

"Aww, you're nice to ask!" Martin smiled. "Everything's fine, can't complain. Tomorrow we're leaving on a road trip to Portland in the Road Warrior!"

"Road Warrior?" Sally tilted her head curiously.

"His Winnebago." Frasier answered for him as he came back into the room, handing Sally a cup of tea on a saucer. "Here you are, some of the finest French tea you could ask for!"

"Oh, thank you!" Sally smiled brightly, sniffing the tea. "My fiance and I have tea very often at home. In the mornings, occasionally at one point during the day if we have nothing else to do, and in the evenings." She sipped it. "Oooh...this is very good...thank you, Dr. Crane..."

"Oh, it's nothing." Frasier waved it off, but was proud of himself for having presented her with such fine tea and seeing that she liked it. "What Dad was referring to is that we're going to Portland for the weekend in his Winnebago, but we're also stuck on the fact that we _still_ can't find a good caretaker for Eddie!"

"Fras, you know I'm not comfortable leaving him in a kennel!" Martin insisted. "My pals are either busy, Eddie's not comfortable at their place, or they're allergic! Niles is coming too, so's Roz, so neither of them can take him in, and since Daphne's coming also, she can't stay home and look after him!"

"Well we can't cancel the trip, either! Niles and I have a psychiatric conference to attend, Roz needs to-"

"Yadda yadda yadda, I know why we're all going!" Martin waved it off. "But that still doesn't change that I am not leaving Eddie in a kennel! He'd get too nervous and lonely!"

"We can't bring him with us this time, Dad, you know that!" Frasier rolled his eyes once more.

"Um..." Sally softly interjected after she took a sip of her tea. "Mr. Crane, if it would be all right...I could look after Eddie for you."

* * *

><p>~<strong>Impulse<strong>~

Martin looked at her with surprise. "Really? You'd do that? Ah, Sal, I couldn't ask ya to do that! You just met us one time! No no, you don't need to trouble yourself."

"No, really, I could! You know my fiance and I have a dog, so I am experienced in taking care of a dog. ...Maybe not one like Eddie, but it is only for the weekend, I can surely take care of him." Sally offered, placing her cup down on the coffee table. "I'd be happy to, really."

"Sally really, that's very kind of you to offer, but we couldn't possibly impose." Frasier reasoned.

"It's all right, Dr. Crane... I can see you all have to be in...Port-land... And the fact no one can look after Eddie is inconveniencing you. Really, I'd be happy to look after him."

"Well..." Frasier looked over at Martin for help.

"...I guess it'd do him some good to break in a new friend. He does like you, so that's a start." Martin shrugged. "And you did come all this way to bring back Frasier's wallet and didn't even take anything from it...all right Sally, you can take Eddie home with you to look after him."

"Oh, really? Well...thank you, Mr. Crane!" Sally smiled warmly. "I know it may be very sudden, but I'm happy to help you two."

Martin chuckled and grinned at his oldest son. "Well you hear that, Fras? She's our saving grace! No kennel for Eddie!"

"All right all right, Dad!" Frasier held his hand up to silence. "Sally has agreed to help us look after Eddie, there's no need to gloat about not needing a kennel."

Martin stood up from his chair, going to refresh his cup of coffee. "I got it, relax, Fras. Thanks a lot Sally, you're the best!" He smiled at her over his shoulder as he hobbled to the kitchen.

"No problem, Mr. Crane." Sally smiled after him, turning back to Frasier as she took her tea cup back again. "Oh, and how are you, Dr. Crane? Are you doing all right?"

Frasier chuckled, feeling touched that she asked how he was doing, and seemed sincere about it. "Well, there isn't much to tell! But what can I say, life is going all right for me now."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Sally smiled more, sipping her tea. "You give good advice, from what I heard the first time... And you're a doctor? Well, what kind?"

"What kind? Oh, I'm a psychiatrist, actually." Frasier said proudly.

"Ooh! That's very interesting, Dr. Crane. You have a private practice?"

"No, a radio show, actually. I did use to have my own practice, but now I'm a radio psychiatrist."

"Ra...dee...oh?"

Puzzled as to why she didn't seem to know what he was talking about, Frasier shrugged before he seated himself onto the ottoman. "Well yes, I've been working in Radio for about eight years. You said you heard me on the radio the first time we met, didn't you?"

"I did?" Sally blinked. "Oh, but I heard you! Though I didn't see you."

"Ah, then you did. You said you were at the bank that day, and I hadn't been to the bank that day at all, so you heard me on the radio." Frasier concluded. "On the radio, you can hear me, but can't see me."

Sally looked away thoughtfully for a moment. "Oh..."

"Yes, well, how about you? What do you do?"

"Me? Oh, well...I'm a homemaker, really. And um, oh! I'm also a seamstress. I'm the head seamstress back home." Sally said a bit nervously, knowing full well he would likely think she was nuts if she said that she was actually the future Queen of Halloween Town, since the real world didn't know that the Holiday Worlds existed.

"Really? Head seamstress of an entire town, that's quite a job." Frasier remarked, actually impressed. He leaned over a little in his seat. "Do you make suits?"

"Absolutely!" Sally nodded, smiling enthusiastically. "My fiance wears a suit all the time, and often I make suits for him to wear on holidays."

"I see." Frasier smiled, still impressed. "Well, I too have a fine eye to wear a dapper suit. And I quite honestly never had my own personal tailor, either...the townsfolk must be lucky."

"Well...I do my best..." Sally blushed, looking modest. "Everyone says I'm wonderful at it, but oh, it's just what I do."

"Do what?" Martin queried curiously as he came out of the kitchen.

"Sally was just telling me that she's actually the head seamstress of her town, Dad." Frasier explained to him.

"Oh! Wow, that's pretty cool!" Martin complimented, sitting at the table with his paper and coffee. "What's your trade?"

"Oh, I make clothes, pillow cases, scarves, just about anything, really. I can also mend clothes as well, it's something I've done pretty well with, too." Sally explained modestly.

"Really?" Martin grinned. "That's great, I'm sure you do a good job there, Sal."

"Thank you, Mr. Crane..." Sally murmured bashfully, looking down at her cup shyly.

"Speaking of, I have a rip in these pants over there." Martin gestured to a pair of pants draped over one of the chairs at the table. "I was going to have them taken in, but would you mind doing a quick patch job?"

"Dad, honestly, you find out her occupation and take advantage of it?" Frasier groaned, shaking his head. "Why, I have half a mind to-"

"Oh, I'd love to, Mr. Crane!" Sally said sweetly.

"Show you where we keep our sewing supplies!" Frasier saved, getting up.

Martin chuckled as Sally followed Frasier to the hallway, going back to his newspaper. Eddie pawed at the pair of pants draped over the chair.

* * *

><p>~<strong>Last Stitch Effort<strong>~

Sally sat on the couch, patching Martin's pants by hand, while Martin came to sit in his chair, and turned on the TV. She looked up as the noise was heard, and stared with awe at the screen, completely fixated and curious. It was a moving picture, complete with sound! She had never seen this before. This was what full motion video was...just as Flower Heart explained. Just like on the projector.

"What...is that?" Sally blinked.

"Baseball game! The Mariners are playing!" Martin grinned. "You watch sports, Sal?"

"I...no, I don't have that...big flickering box...at home." Sally said in a mild daze. "Ooh! What just happened? Why are they all shouting?"

"Home run, of course!" Martin looked over at her. "Keep watching, you'll love it!"

Sally continued to watch, still patching up the pants. Then the phone rang, which startled her, as she looked around the apartment frantically to locate the source of the strange ringing noise. Frasier came in from his room, adjusting his necktie, and answered the phone.

"Hello? Oh, hello Daphne. ...Yes, everything's just fine. What? No, we managed to find someone to look after Eddie. ...No, we're not leaving him at a kennel, I've heard Dad's..._persistence_ on the matter."

Sally stared with amazement at the strange object Frasier was holding, and talking into. It sounded like he was talking to another person. But whoever that was wasn't here! How was he communicating with this other person?

"All right, I'll put Dad on. ...I hope Niles has been behaving himself with you." Frasier approached his father, and then he laughed a bit. "Very funny, Daphne. All right, see you tomorrow. Have a good day." He passed the phone to Martin.

"Hey, Daph!" Martin greeted into the phone. "How's it going? ...Yeah, thought so! So yeah, Frasier just told you, huh? We've got someone to look after Eddie! You know that girl I told you about, that we met at the bowling alley? She came back today, to bring Frasier's wallet. She's a real sweetheart! She agreed to take Eddie in until we get back, which is great! ...Oh, sure! I think she's plenty trustworthy. Plus she's good with him and has a dog of her own, couldn't ask for anything better!"

He glanced at her, finding her staring intently at him as she still patched his pants.

"Nah, she's just sittin' there, patching up a rip in one of my pants." Martin said nonchalantly, and then laughed. "Yep, patches and cream!"

"Sally, what are you doing?" Frasier interrupted her train of thought.

"Oh!" Sally composed herself, and went back to work. "I'm sorry, I just thought I saw something." Maybe it wasn't the best idea to admit this kind of thing sometimes...

Eddie trotted over and hopped up onto the couch, staring at her. For a few moments, she paid him no mind. Then she glanced at him. Eddie still stared.

"Thank God I'm not the only one he stares at!" Frasier said in relief, and left to grab his coat. "Well, I'm off to work. I'll be home a little late, Dad." He put on his coat, and then headed to the front door.

"See ya, Fras!" Martin said offhandedly, and spoke back into the phone. "I gotta go Daph, the game's back on. Okay, see you tomorrow!" He hung up.

"Oh, have a good day, Dr. Crane!" Sally said, looking toward Frasier.

Frasier smiled a bit. "Thank you, Sally. Same to you." He grabbed his keys and then headed out the door.

"Hey Sal, do me a favour and get me a beer, would you?" Martin looked over at Sally. "They're in the fridge."

"Um, all right..." Sally stood up, gently placing her work aside, and headed into the kitchen.

She took in the sight of it, amazed at how...big and exquisite it was. The kitchen back home was small, but it was quaint and definitely worked. It reminded her of the smaller kitchen located in Cupid's home, and even the nice kitchen Santa and Mrs. Claus had, though this was...very fancy. She came to the fridge, unsure of what it was for a moment. Then she opened one of the doors.

"Ooohh..." She wasn't sure what the beer was, but offhandedly took a can of Ballentine, which was one of the first things she saw. She went back into the living room. "You have a very interesting kitchen, Mr. Crane."

"Hey, thanks! But it's not mine really, this is Frasier's place, after all." Martin said, taking the beer from her.

"Oh...I see." Sally went and sat back on the couch to resume patching the pants. Eddie still sat there, staring at her. She looked at him. "...Eddie."

Eddie barked in response.

"Ah, he just likes you." Martin chuckled.

Sally giggled. "That's good, then. I suppose this weekend will be fine after all." She continued patching as she proceeded to watch the game with Martin for a while.

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><p>~Credits~<p>

Sally is seated at the table on a chair, this time at home. Eddie is seated on the other chair. Both of them are staring at each other. Eddie then jumps onto the table and goes over to lick Sally's face. She laughs and takes him into her arms. A very dejected Zero sadly floats over to the couch where Jack is sitting, observing the scene. They look at one another, and then shake their heads.


End file.
